By Francis Iwuchukwu

Copyright tribuneonlineng

A Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced two employees of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) to three years in prison for corruption.

The convicted staff, Shola Onasanya, a Chief Accountant, and Halimat Olalere, a Principal Executive Officer of Accounts at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Ebute Meta, Lagos, were found guilty of diverting over N1.17 million in salaries.

Justice Ibrahim Ahmad Kala delivered the verdict on Thursday, following a plea bargain agreement reached between the convicts and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the prosecuting agency.

In addition to their prison sentences, the judge ordered both Onasanya and Olalere to pay a fine of N100,000 each. The court also mandated the immediate closure of two bank accounts, UBA account number 1004722884 and Union Bank account number 0171442130, that were used to perpetrate the crime.

The sentencing comes after both defendants pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a two-count amended charge filed against them by the ICPC.

Before their guilty plea, ICPC’s counsel, Enosa Omoghibo, informed the court that a plea bargain agreement had been reached and filed on 4 September.

He then moved an application for the court to enter the terms of the agreement as judgment, citing Section 270 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015.

According to the prosecution’s statement of facts, the fraud took place between January and December 2023 at the FMC, Ebute Meta.

The defendants were accused of converting the proceeds of corruption for their personal use by deliberately failing to stop the salaries of employees who had left the service.

Instead, they substituted the bank account of Ms Olalere, the second defendant, into which the salaries of the former staff members were continuously paid.

Mr Onasanya, the first defendant, would then direct Olalere to transfer the illicit funds into his personal account.

The amended charge, marked FHC/L/559c/2025, provided a detailed account of the conspiracy.

It stated that Onasanya, a Chief Accountant and IPPIS payroll desk officer, “converted to your personal use the total sum of N1,170,000.00, monies derived from corruption by deliberately failing to take necessary steps as payroll desk officer (IPPIS) to stop the salaries of staff members who have exited the service.”

The charge further detailed how Onasanya substituted Ms Olalere’s bank accounts to receive the salaries and then directed her to transfer the sums to his UBA account.

Ms Olalere’s charge detailed her role in aiding the crime. It read: “That you, Olalere Alimat Temitope, Principal Executive Officer (Accounts), aided one Onasanya Fasasi Sola (m) to convert to his personal use the total sum of N1,170,000.00, by substituting to your knowledge your Zenith Bank Account No. 2008294771 and Union Bank Account No. 0171442130, into which salaries of some exited staff members were continually being paid, and you thereafter always transfer the sums received through your accounts into the personal UBA account No. 1004722884 of Onasanya Fasasi Sola.”

The prosecutor informed the court that the defendants’ actions contravened several sections of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

Onasanya was charged under Sections 18(2)(b)(d) and punishable under Section 18(3), while Olalere was charged under Section 21(a) and also punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.

ALSO READ TOP STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE